


Fennek

by orphan_account



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, Prompto centric, Slow Burn, cus yeah ..., have yall seen the dark phoenix, if: noct and the boys had gone into hiding immediately after the fall of insomnia, just wait ok, promptos a magic boy, two years after insomnia falls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 04:16:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19349323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Two years after insomnia falls, the Crown Prince and his comrades emerge from hiding, the world of Eos is in ruin with a suspicious stranger has taken control of the realm, and Prompto can’t get the annoying burning in his hands to stop.





	1. THE INSOMNIAN TIMES

**THE INSOMNIAN TIMES**

_17th may M.E. 758_

 

[insert picture of the citadel in ruins]

TODAY MARKS TWO YEARS SINCE THE FALL OF INSOMNIA, AND THE DEATHS OF KING REGIS LUCIS CAELUM AND PRINCE NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM, ALONG WITH MANY INNOCENT LIVES LOST IN THE CITADEL AND SURROUNDING AREAS.

 

IN REMEMBRANCE, CURRENT KING ARDYN IZUNIA HAS DEMANDED A MEMORIAL DAY, LEAVING MANY OFF WORK AND EDUCATIONAL ATTENDANCES TO COMMEMORATE OUR FALLEN LEADERS LIVING IN THE INSOMNIA AREA, MANY OTHER LUCIS CITIES AND TOWNS ALSO LAYING DOWN THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ONE DAY.

 

ACROSS WATERS IN TENEBRAE, ORACLE LUNAFREYA OF HOUSE NOX FLEURET AND NIFLHEIM EMPIRE PAYS HER RESPECTS TO HER FORMALLY BETROTHED AND THE LIVES LOST TWO YEARS AGO TODAY, BUT WILL CONTINUE HER DUTIES AS ORACLE AROUND THE SCHEDULED MEMORIAL SERVICE.

 

_page two: niflheim-lucis new laws put in place_

_page three: remembering the lives of king regis and prince noctis_

_page fou..._

_...ge thirty five: ten places to escape the daemons for a family fun weekend_


	2. desu

the once intuitive and peaceful continent of lucis was fear inducing at night. shadows seemed to move and the creepy crawly sounds of lurking daemons did nothing to settle worried skin. the moon rose high, but it did nothing to light the empty streets of outer city areas, only serving dim enough to see two feet in front of you. 

prompto argentum was always afraid of the dark. he pretended not to be — what, with being in the crownsgaurd and all, but even as he grew up, his hands still shook and his heart still rapidly picked up pace whenever the sun fell and he wasn't in a guarded place. 

luckily for him, by the time it hit two in the morning and the daemons were really out to play, he spotted the dim orange lights of lestallum in the distance. he didn’t celebrate with a cheer or even a whoop, in fear of the creatures lurking in the darkness. instead, he let a small, half smile settle across his face, pulled the lengths of his jacket further around him, and gently nocked his shoulder into noctis'. 

formerly prince noctis lucis caelum, legally pronounced dead. that noctis, who was actually very much alive-ly walking beside his friend with careful footsteps and a royal arm blade clutched in his hand, clad entirely in black clothes that cover almost all his skin, alike to prompto's own, and their other two companions stroke closest friends. 

after two years of waiting and running and hiding, they had set to return to lucis, in hopes to put a means to an end and restore the peace lucis once held, whether that was by granting noctis' rightful place to the throne, or tearing down the king not meant to be. 

so yes, maybe the dark did scare prompto, and maybe he wanted to sprint the distance to the warm lights of lestallum ahead, but he had much more to fear than the beasts trawling the land at night. 

the gentle press of a shoulder back into his own did settle his nerves though, and by the time they made it to the final spread of inky darkness before the steadily increasing glow of the outskirts city, prompto had wrapped one hand entirely around the former princes wrist, the other clutching his gun. ignis signalled for them to crouch just to the side of a bush, hopefully in enough cover to sacrifice talking. 

"although we're in the final stretch, i suggest immense caution." ignis spoke in such a low tone it was almost impossible to hear, but they'd become accustomed to listening to each other's extremely hushed talk and the distant noises of roaming creatures in the passing two years. "once we enter the light, we have to make a break for the door. might i suggest myself, prompto and gladiolus cover the protection whilst you get us inside?" he looked at noctis, who had been pressing his wrist comfortingly into the palm of prompto's hand since the blonde had grasped it. 

prompto wanted to interject, but strangely, gladio did it for him, which was an extreme rarity. it's not that gladio was easy to push around or convince, because he was the exact opposite, he just regularly didn't have an opposing argument to ignis' ideas. "not sure that's a great idea. he's still dead. i can get us in, though, if you guys can hold 'em off for a bit?"

the three young men nodded their heads in agreement, whispering their good lucks to one another and summoning any weapons they'd need, except for gladios, since that wouldn't have been very subtle. 

prompto closed his eyes, tight, in the few remaining seconds as ignis counted down for them to run, and vaguely felt noctis' wrist fall from his grasp, only for the familiar warmth to return as his closest friend squeezed his hand before letting it fall entirely. prompto heard his feet hitting the floor before he registered it, darkness quickly melting into the orange light of headlights. he heard the alerting noises of daemons, felt his breath catching in his throat and his heart beat pick up dramatically. 

all four of the men raced across the concrete of the roads, legs tearing across the open space at an impressive speed, but consciously keeping a pace they could all run at. the gates got closer and closer rapidly, but so did the different types of paw and foot and hoof and many other falls behind them. 

something swiped at prompto's legs, and he definitely heard himself scream as he fell to the floor, knees first, then arms, then is head. it was incredibly painful, but he was trained to ignore that and rolled onto his back, kicking out and blindly aiming his gun. he pulled the trigger, knowing it was a daemon, scrambling backwards as it wailed and attempted to fight back. two hands fastened around his upper arms, pulling him back to his feet. 

ignis dragged him by the hold on one of his arms to start sprinting again, but since the half silence was gone after his ear piercing alert, prompto continued to shoot behind them as they ran. when they reached the gate, daemons were closing in from all angles. himself, ignis and noctis formed a semi circle with their backs to gladio and the gate, which he was eagerly banging on. 

"open up! amiticia born and former crownsguard!" gladio spoke in choppy words in hopes of getting his points across quicker. prompto heard a small metal sliding, but he was mainly focused on shooting the damn creature that dared noctis to fight, hissing and growling. 

"gladdy?!" there was a louder metal scraping, and then other gunshots joining prompto's own. he spared a quick look behind him, seeing the large gate open in a crack big enough for three people, two gunmen shooting out and iris amiticia standing in the middle dressed in black and red, a long blade in one hand. 

"ignis, go!" noctis demanded, and although he definitely wanted to argue, ignis did, "gladio, you now!" he yelled almost a second after ignis had made it inside, not that he'd know from his position of tearing up daemons with his arsenal. prompto was about to demand noctis go, he did have a long range weapon after all, when he felt the hold from earlier reversed, and let himself be harshly forced to sprint with noctis, who pulled him closer, wrapped one arm around his best friends side and warped them a safe distance inside the walls. 

a second after prompto tumbled to the floor, scratching his legs and arms on the rough pave, utterly from shock of the warp, he heard the loud slam of the gates, the wrenching protests of the daemons outside, and barricade locks being put in place. he felt noctis beside him, on hands and knees, panting and coughing. 

after a while of pain, he hissed as he pushed himself onto his knees, haphazardly reaching out a hand to brush the dirt off of noctis' jacket. "are you okay?" he asked automatically, in both best friend and crownsguard typical duty. noctis looked up from the floor and paused until a small chuckle left his mouth. 

"we made it." he spoke boldly, hands pressed firmly on the rough floor, a wide grin spread across his face. he definitely didn't look royal, right then. prompto couldn't help but smile back. 

lestallum was truly beautiful, even in the state it was, even with high walls surrounded it and even with the grunts and groans of daemons all around. weirdly, prompto hadn't felt as safe as he did in that millisecond than the two years they'd been running for. combined. 

when noctis leant back and rubbed the dirt from his palms onto the dark grey of his pants. he looked giddy and excited and tired. both the prince and his best friend were offered hands up from two of the people helping guard the gate, and noctis tipped his head down so his hair fell in front of his face, enough to hide it. prompto did his best to shield him with his own body too, but iris quickly led them through the city, one single armed man trailing behind. 

lestallum had always been beautiful. prompto had only been there twice before, very briefly, but he's seen hundreds of pictures and had always wanted to have an extended trip there. it was a place of beautiful sites ranging from the architecture of how the buildings were made, the landscapes around, and even just the way the place bustled with lively energy. 

it didn't, two years after insomnia fell. it was dark, yes, but nothing changed the way the buildings looked bleak compared to their old colourful appearance, trash and grime everywhere. windows were either closed or completely boarded up, but cracks of light were seen everywhere to keep the daemons at bay. there were people on night shifts that no doubt swapped out every few hours. 

it was upsetting. 

"prompto?" noctis asked from a few steps in front of him, turning to look over his shoulder from the dimly lit back alleyway. "you okay?" he asked, noting how the blonde had stopped to take in the sights. prompto didn't really respond to the question, blinking in surprise and nodding. he inhaled once, exhaled, and kept walking, his eyes then cast to the floor so he didn't have to take it the surroundings. 

the leville hotel had become more of a stronghold for the centre of lestallum. It was extremely locked down and reminded prompto, almost sickeningly, of a really small military base. iris lead them inside after getting through the security measures, speaking quietly to armed people placed around. she looked bad ass, donned in black with two blades strapped to her waist and a gun slung over her back. she'd grown into the slightly baby-ish face and had gotten pretty tall for how short she previously was. 

the hotel looked completely different to the last time prompto had seen it. it was still organised, but less glamorous, with arms strapped to walls and strewn over tables. there was a suspicious looking grated trapdoor in the corner of the room, and there were a few people milling about or talking quietly in the corners of the main room. "im super happy you guys are here and safe, but you must be exhausted." iris smiled gently after the doors had been shut and the bolts had been put back in place. she'd been speaking on a radio just before. "we have two spare rooms upstairs, but if you'd like your own ones the buildings all around are also parts of the leville rooms."

she smiled in a way that made the cold of the leville a little warmer, in such a friendly and inviting way that prompto wondered how she was related to gladio, but they shared the same demand for respect just by looking at you. plus they could both kick your ass without lifting a finger. "we have a lot to talk about, but i don't want gladdy falling asleep half way through." she winked at them, and then started for the stairs at the back of the leville. the four followed, ignoring gladios little grumble and instead smiling. 

prompto still felt slightly off. he couldn't really put a finger on why, he just felt slightly vacant. it wasn't new, it'd been getting worse for months prior. but it seemed to topple over the second they stepped foot in lestallum, and he couldn't really hide it as well. his smiles and laughs felt a little hollow. and, being his best friend, noctis seemed to have noticed by the way he shooed gladio and ignis into one room at the start of the hall, not taking his eyes off his mentally-distant friend, who he then pulled down to the only other spare room at almost the opposite end of the hall. 

"oh." prompto hummed when he realised they were in a room of their own, blinking a few times. the vacant feeling had something else in it, something actually affecting his state. his vision was slightly blurry, and had an adjustment shade of dim purple or blue. his hands were shaking and he was dehydrated. 

"six above, prompto, are you okay?" noctis wrapped a hand around the blonde's upper arm, his fingers digging into the pale skin to steady him, the other hand holding his friend up by his shoulder. prompto blinked at him, and gathered his thoughts. there was a weird buzzing under his skin, it felt almost like an electrical vibration, from the tips of his toes to the top of his scalp. 

"yeah, yeah i am." prompto clutched at his head, his fingers trembling as the feeling of a beating current under his skin increased. when he opened his eyes, noctis was closer, his hold less tight, with a clear display on worry in his expression. in a second, the buzzing feeling stopped. "i think im just tired."

noctis let go, eventually, and nodded despite the clear want to push further, but he didn't move back any distance. the sound of rain starting to fall all around was quite soothing to hear, a sign of normalcy. prompto really was tired, or he at least felt like he could pass out for a few hours before waking up to start their day. tomorrow was so foreign to him, he had no idea what it would hold. they'd made it to lestallum, then what? would noct publicly announce he's alive? would they strike down ardyn the second they see him?

"let's rest, then." noctis gave a tiny smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. his hand returned to prompto's shoulder, and for a second he looked like he wanted to say something more. "tomorrow holds a lot."

tomorrow. right.

when prompto woke up, it was still dark. not the kind of dark it always was, the weird hazy smog that never left. it was the kind of dark that was the only tiny note that it was technically night time (or early morning?) because even 'eternal night' didn't make it only black all of the time. 

noctis was, predictably, very much asleep. he was completely swamped in the duvet he'd cuckooed himself in, along with an extra bed throw that was just about visible, and pillows that surrounded his head in an ironic crown. it was kind of soft, to look upon in such an early morning dimness. eventually, prompto stopped staring and made for the door, stopping when he noticed the plastic bag sat in front of it, from the inside. he crouched down, taking the note off the top. 

incognito time  
-iris

prompto smiled a little at the simplistic note, placed it on the floor next to him and peered into the back. there were clothes, two sets he realised, after he'd taken them out, plus clean underwear. not even leaving a chance for debate, he left the nicer looking clothes in the bag for noctis, and carried his own new threads to the corner of the room, so he was at least behind noct's back when he was changing into dark jeans and a white tank top. he kept his gloves on, and prayed no one would point it out. chewing on his bottom lip for a second, prompto hastily strapped his holster to his thigh, checked his gun had rounds left in it, and slipped it into place. 

he looked over at noctis one final time, almost as a check he was still there, before slipping out of the room and closing the door as quietly as he could. 

there were people moving around the leville by the time he'd gotten out, despite there not being much of a reasoning of keeping time, but it was nice to have the regularity of a busy morning place. there were people sat around the main floor, seemingly all people trained to fight, eating and discussing things quietly. iris was by the reception area, talking to two men, both armed with guns. 

she did excuse herself from conversation when she saw prompto, however, and bounded over to say good morning. "i see you found my gift! well, the spares we had from," she gestured her hands around wildly. "around. i actually found a hat, if noctis wants it. but um..." iris' voice trained off a little, a gentle sigh leaving her lips. "when is he going to tell people he's alive?"

prompto didn't speak for a second, mainly because he didn't know. he didn't really want to know, either, because if noctis came forward, that meant trouble, and trouble meant risking losing his best friend. sometimes, late into the night, prompto would whisper wishes to take all the pain and danger away from noctis, to aim it all at himself. he could take it, he was made to. 

meant to. 

iris picked up on his hesitancy, and shrugged her shoulders gently. "it's okay. i get that it's dangerous, we're just so tired of waiting for something to happen." she explained, and the blonde only just managed a nod in return. the weird buzz was back, a subtle feeling under his skin at first, then a gentle feeling through his whole body. "would you like something to eat? we don't have a meeting for a couple of hours."

prompto scratched at his skin, blinking hard when his vision tinted purple. "um. no, thanks. i think im gonna take a run just around a couple blocks, though." he distractedly rubbed his forearm with one hand, trying to make it look as casual as possible. iris didn't seem to notice his hazed and erratic behaviour, thankfully, and nodded him out, telling the woman outside to let him in when he returned. 

so he ran. not for very long, just around the same loop of lestallum buildings until he got bored of the same sights, eventually stopping to take a break where the market square had previously been. it was set up with small, pop-up stand shops that weren't open, for food and weapons and materials. the original charm of trinkets and gadgets had disappeared entirely, and it made prompto's heart sting a little. the floor was littered with paper and general trash, the stones a lot muddier than they previously had been. for a moment, the buzzing went away. 

when it returned, it came with a splitting headache that stabbed through prompto's temple, feeling a lot more painful than when his knees hit the stone and scraped until they bled. he let out a pathetic cry of pain, his eyes clenching shut and his hands trembling as they scrabbles at the cobble. after the sharp stab, a dull throbbing came, and when he opened his eyes to wince, he nearly cried. 

for a second, the world appeared in shades of purple that shot like shards into the back of his eye sockets and burned through his brain. for a second, streaks of violent ran across his finger tips, and when prompto reached for the metal trash can just in front of him to lift himself up, it sparked into glitzy flames that burned through the can and shattered into a million pieces. 

a scream tore from his lungs before he could register it, though no pain stemmed from the shock. for a second, he stared at the remnants of the trash can, before lifting a shaky hand to his face. it was fine. not a single scratch or scorch mark was left on his fingertips, despite the immeasurable heat he'd felt in them. 

"what the f..." he breathed, tears jumping to his eyes. he moved his hand further away, focusing on the more distant feeling of that same buzzing. nothing. 

what the fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen i know this au sounds whack just TRUST ME OKAY. 
> 
> anyway i was watching bnha whilst editing this so ! sorry for any mistakes in editing checks. 
> 
> -rynan


End file.
